MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

8/28 Cubs sign Castro

The Cubs signed shortstop Starlin Castro to a seven-year, $60 million contract extension on Tuesday. The deal reportedly includes a $6 million signing bonus with salaries of $5 million for 2013 and 2014; $6 million in 2015; $7 million in 2016; $9 million in 2017; $10 million in 2018; and $11 million in 2019. There also is a reported club option for 2020 of $16 million, or a $1 million buyout. If Castro wins the Most Valuable Player award, or finishes first through fifth twice, the final year of the deal and the option year each escalate by $2 million. The deal would cover all four years of arbitration plus his first three free agent seasons. The contract at a minimum covers all of Castro’s playing time throughout the rest of his 20s, as the 22-year-old will not turn 30 until after completing the seventh season of this deal.

A two-time National League All-Star, Castro leads the National League with 486 hits since making his Major League debut on May 7, 2010, at the age of 20. Last season, he was the youngest player to lead the National League in hits with 207. Castro has finished each of his first two seasons batting .300 or better. This season, he has set a career high with 12 home runs, has tied his career mark with nine triples, is three RBIs shy of his career-best 66 from a season ago, and has recorded his second-straight season with more than 20 stolen bases. This season, he was batting .276 with 12 home runs, 18 doubles, nine triples and 63 RBIs. However, he also leads all Major League shortstops with 21 errors, including two Monday night.

it really isn’t that much money for a 22 yr old kid who has the most hits in the ML since he was brought up. Even if he stays where he is at right now his value far exceeds this contract. 1 WAR = 5 Million…. last year Castro was 3 WAR… this year he is 2.7 already… AND if we would wait on the extension and let him go through arbitration he could end up costing us MORE…. it was a no brainer plain and simple

Not very fair to compare Barney or any second baseman for that matter to Sandberg who is a once in a generation type of player. Barney is a very good second baseman, not a HOF secondbaseman. FYI, Castro may be good, he may get BETTER and he is worth his new contract….but he may not become Barry Larkin either. Barney “the kid” knows how to hit, he just is not a .300 hitter nor does he have the body type to slam the homers like Sandberg.

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